Backseat Driver will take a ride in front seat!

Jerry Flint is a heavy hitter in the automotive journalism world. He's the senior Automotive Guy at Forbes magazine with his column: BackSeat Driver.

Like his bio says: "He has known just about everybody in the auto business. He likes to say that he was there when “Ed Cole created the Corvair; when John DeLorean created the GTO that Ronny and the Daytonas sang about; when Karl Hahn taught us to 'think small' about his beetle-shaped Volkswagen; when George Romney took his compact Rambler and slew the dinosaurs in the driveway; there when the Edsel died; when Lee Iacocca introduced his Mustang; there to drive Ralph Nader into Detroit from the airport when he came with his new book, Unsafe at Any Speed; and there again when Tom Gale and Bob Lutz did cab forward, and saved Chrysler again.”

And he'll be THERE for my movie!

GirlDriver hops on board!

Just got off the phone with a cool automotive journalist -- Kate McLeod -- her syndicated column GirlDriver is published around the US. She also penned a big book on the history of the bug titled, BeetleMania: The Story of the Car that Captured the Hearts of Millions. And she's agreed to be interviewed for my film. She also happens to be married to one of the world's heaviest hitters in the Automotive Journalism field, and seems to think I might get his interest in being in the film as well... Jerry Flint. So, that is pretty exciting.

Epiphanies

A big part of producing anything is getting the right people on board. They gotta LOVE the project as much as you do and have their fair share of heft to bring to the table, skill wise.

I knew from the beginning that I'll need a higher up producer to godfather the project, keep me on my toes and help me put our financing together. With a big budget, several countries need to come together to invest in the project. I've got a meeting tomorrow with one of my ideal 'godfathers' and sounds like he might just love the project too. At least I got a meeting!

I also had an epiphany today realizing that in order to get this film made, I'll be better off finding the RIGHT director to collaborate with me. My cred as a director doesn't have the heft to leverage the bigger dollars. It's my first feature, after all. So, I've just approached one of my fave doc directors to get a discussion going. Stay tuned for that news, as it unfolds. He's an American, but I won't hold that against him!

The next aspect to this film is going to be an interactive gaming website.That's
a natural extension of the film, given the character of the little Bug, and the way it's being portrayed in the movie -- as a cartoon. (only segments of the film will be cartoon animated). I am working on a package to entice one of THE hot gaming companies in the world to get on board to help design a game. Doesn't hurt that they are headquartered a 20 minute walk from my apartment! Of course there's also the Bell New Media Fund proposal to work on. Bell, like other communications providers in this country have initiatives to fuel interactivity online. After all... we're all moving online anyways, right?

Fingers crossed on the new team as it continues to build. Don't worry. I'll keep you posted.

Little Box

Every day in the making of a movie something always happens.

One day it's a crisis that you either avert or live through. Maybe even sort out. Let's face it, it's a high stakes game, that you are not always winning.

Sometimes it feels like a whole lot of effort with no pay off. Then, something wild and glorious happens, out of the blue.
Point is, if you are moving forward on several fronts, something is bound to happen.

Yesterday, a little box landed on my door. In it - 3 hours of vintage Volkswagen footage including many of the original video ads from the early days. Yup. Now, to get it transferred onto a disk so I can actually watch it. Stay tuned.

First Post

While this is month 5 in the development of my documentary: Bitten by the Bug, this is the beginning of my Behind the Scenes diary which will share the scoop on getting this film made.

It all started when I was housesitting my daughter and new husband's farm house while they were on their honeymoon in January. A friend dropped over with a couple of books on the Volkswagen Beetle he'd found in the garbage and figured they'd like. (we are all VW fans!) One book told the tale of the history of the Bug (fascinating stuff -- started with Hitler); while the other book called: Think Small illustrated the revolutionary ad campaign that launched the ugly little car to super stardom. I was hooked. Or I should say, bitten. Immediately started work to research whether a chronicle of this car's life and times had ever been done and much to my surprise, it hadn't.

Then came a title, and I began to work on what should be in the film, attracted a clever writer friend to work with me, design how the film would look and feel (it's going to have cartoon animation, among other things!) and made a plan to attract investors and broadcasters.

5 months later I've got a crew lined up; several intriguing today characters with their Bugs poised to be in the film - and follow on their missions - and a handful of cool experts who will be interviewed, including the compelling and insightful ad guru Terry O'Reilly.

This week's coup: VW GERMANY got back to me and are giving me access to their library of vintage archival film and stills. They'll also host me, the crew and one of my characters when we shoot at their amazing AUTOSTADT theme park in Wolfsburg, Germany, this fall, once I've got my production financing in place.

CURRENT PRESSING MISSION: Get my first broadcaster (Canadian, American, British or German) on board! That will put the Vroooom in the financing engine!!

Today I launched a fundraising campaign on www.indiegogo.com where regular folks can participate in getting a film made.
So feel free to check it out and see how I am doing! And, spread the word.

[claiming my blog texs8nw6j2 ]